Snatching Victory . . .
EDITORIAL Snatching Victory . . . You could almost hear cheers of joy coming from the White House. President Bush, it seems, is back, no longer hopelessly unpopular and embattled. You could see a...
...Besides national security, the issue that most energizes conservatives and Republicans is judges...
...Let's have them...
...The closely watched "generic ballot" suggested congressional Republicans may yet avert disaster on November 7. This measures whether voters want a Democrat or a Republican to represent them in Congress...
...Russian and Chinese leaders have personally assured him they would back sanctions if Iran refused (as it has) to stop uranium enrichment...
...It's Bush's actions, not his words, that will matter...
...To stave off a Democratic triumph, a rise of 10 percentage points or so among Republicans is necessary...
...And it wouldn't improve Republican prospects this fall...
...Americans must be fully engaged to become victors...
...So bring on the midterm election, right...
...In a polling slump since Hurricane Katrina struck a year ago, Bush's job approval was back in the 40s again—42 percent in the Gallup, Hotline, Rasmussen, and CNN surveys—and rising...
...George Casey, the American commander in Iraq...
...But withdrawing troops this year would be a strategic mistake...
...Bush needs to explain to his own subordinates that this is not a game and that the point is to prevent a nuclear Iran, not to "appear reasonable" to the Europeans...
...A major problem for Bush and Republicans in the midterm election is turnout...
...Bush may be America's choice to fight terrorism, but he falters on other issues...
...This issue was the key to Republican victories in 2002 and 2004...
...Grim reminders of the threat on the fifth anniversary of September 11 won't make terror the paramount issue...
...Moreover, Bush and Republicans have an overriding issue to help them again: national security and the war on terror...
...They are not...
...Everybody has seen an improvement," declared Gen...
...The new offensive to cleanse Baghdad of insurgents and terrorists seems to be proving a success—one qualified by the fact that Moktada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army of Shia jihadists remains hunkered down in the city...
...No one expected the mere possibility of economic sanctions to cause Iran to halt its program to build nuclear weapons...
...Now Bush must brook no dissent in pursuing stern sanctions...
...A lot depends on what Bush does...
...American troops should not be spectators in Iraq...
...And the August bounce may prove to be ephemeral, as earlier upticks have...
...There's much to do...
...There are already enough nominees to the federal appeals courts alone to have confirmation fights for the rest of the year...
...Forget the supposedly provocative "footprint" created by American soldiers...
...It would weaken the war effort...
...Resting on nonexistent laurels will lead to catastrophe on November 7. —Fred Barnes, for the Editors...
...That wasn't all...
...If some Iraqis see them as occupiers, so be it...
...Even the most threatened Republican senator, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, down by double digits last month, seems to have cut his opponent's lead in half...
...His boost in the polls doesn't mean he's now popular...
...Even David Ignatius of the Washington Post was impressed, drawing an important lesson from the offensive...
...And, surprise of surprises, there's some good news from Iraq...
...Who cares...
...Bush, wisely or not, is unlikely to increase overall troop levels in Iraq...
...The way to achieve it is hardly a secret...
...The place to start is Iran...
...Bush has the support of only 74 percent of the Republicans in the CBS poll, 79 percent in Hotline...
...It wouldn't be a bad idea, either, for the Republican House and Senate to agree on a death tax reduction and to send such a tax cut to the president, thereby revitalizing the tax issue, which distinguishes the two parties...
...The diplomatic option is exhausted...
...Both the White House and congressional Republicans have let this issue fade while they quibble over whether the president has sent up enough nominees or Senate Republicans have acted expeditiously...
...You could see a renewed vigor in Bush's bracing defense last week of his Iraq policy and his warning of the geopolitical disaster that would follow a pullout (or "redeployment" as Democrats call it...
...In short, Bush should not wait for Iran's unlikely compliance, allowing the United States to look ineffectual, if not indeed a patsy...
...And it hasn't...
...It wouldn't satisfy critics of the war anyway...
...A senior administration official told the New York Times, in explaining the State Department's pathetic response to Iran's rebuff, "The game is about appearing to be reasonable...
...The president must hold them to their word, warning that their relations with America will be jeopardized if they balk...
...The country is in a disagreeable mood and ready for a change...
...It's also time to make clear to Iran that the military option is indeed an option...
...The message, rather, is that they can save themselves...
...Republicans have the most sophisticated turnout operation known to man...
...And you could even see it in polls...
...Nor will presidential speeches or lacerating Republican TV ads...
...For Bush, good politics consists of following his instincts and doing the right thing...
...It is a flawed yardstick and has never been reliably predictive...
...The message in the August bounce is not that Republicans are now sure of holding on to the House and Senate...
...Neither Democrats nor the media will play along...
...With the foiling by the British of the plot to blow up airliners flying to America, the issue has moved front and center again—to the dismay of Democrats...
...But it won't work if Republican voters, particularly conservatives, are angry at their leaders or indifferent...
...Still, after trailing by as many as 20 percentage points, Republicans were buoyed by reaching parity (at 40 percent) with Democrats in the Hotline poll and trailing by only 47 percent to 45 percent in Gallup...
...The Republican base is grumpy and apathetic...
...As for Iraq, the initial success in pacifying Baghdad is instructive...
...But Democrats remain highly vulnerable because of their efforts to weaken the more significant offensive tools against terrorists: NSA eavesdropping, the Patriot Act, the SWIFT bank surveillance program...
...When they play an active, forceful role, as they are doing in Baghdad, in partnership with the Iraqi troops they've trained, good things happen, and sooner than they would otherwise, if ever...
...If he stands out as a fighter against terrorists and an uncompromising foe of a nuclear Iran, he will gain strength politically and will deserve to...
...But he and Republicans on Capitol Hill must act...
...Americans want to see him fighting for America's security...
...With enough troops and aggressive tactics, American forces can bring order to even the meanest streets," he wrote...
...The answer is an emphatic no...
...Standing pat and expecting terrorism to dominate the campaign would be foolhardy...
...They have tried to inoculate themselves by proposing a few defensive steps against terrorists...
...As favorable as recent trends have been, they are not nearly enough to spare Republicans a nasty defeat, including the loss of the House and perhaps the Senate...
...He's merely less unpopular...
Vol. 11 • September 2006 • No. 47
